Residence halls face mounting damage

November 12, 2010

Bowers and North residence halls are under siege. Both have suffered significant damages this semester.

Bowers’ damages range throughout a long list. To date there has been: a stolen chair cushion in the first floor formal lounge, ripped wallpaper on the second floor, a damaged table in the first floor formal lounge, a stolen and expended fire extinguisher, a stolen painting from the fourth floor and the presentation lighting that illuminated the painting was broken.

“I believe that the reason behind all of this vandalism is a lack of respect for the residence halls,” head resident of Bowers Ben Peterson said. “This lack of respect is only increased through the consumption of alcohol.”

As of right now nobody has come forward with explanations about the damages in the building, but there are leads on who the perpetrators might be. Currently, though, the only way to take care of the damages is to punish all the residents in the Bowers hall.

“The only current plan is to fine the residents as to account for the costs of the damages,” Peterson said. “However, if problems such as these persist we will be forced to take more serious measures such as very constrictive quiet hours and enforced visitation hours.”

Residents of North Hall have already faced penalties similar to those possible for the residents of Bowers. Although North has not sustained damages as severe as last year, the building has still has been dealing with issues regarding its upkeep. The elevator in North has been turned off for the time being due to frequent urination on the carpet in the beginning of the year. There have also been issues with frequent trash overflow throughout the building on the weekend.

“We have been cracking down on enforcing the policies about underage drinking and fire code,” head resident Cody Rogers said. “This in turn has resulted in either people partying more responsibly or going somewhere else.”

Both Peterson and Rogers believe that much of the damages to the buildings are not coming from those who live in the buildings, but rather from visitors.

Students of both buildings are dealing with the frustrations of the cracking down from the issues.

“It would be nice if it [the elevator] was turned back on Mondays rather than later in the week,” North hall council president, Ricky Caruso said. “I guess we all just have to cooperate and make the best of it.”